Karnataka ganag-rape: One suspect sent to five-day police custody

Manipal (Karnataka), June 28 (IANS) A local court here Friday remanded to five-day police custody Hari Prasad alias Harish, one of the three suspects arrested Thursday in the abduction and gang-rape of a medical student here. The other two are in hospital after attempting to commit suicide.

"We produced Harish (27) in the district court after doctors examined him at a local hospital and found him healthy. The court has granted five-day police custody to interrogate him for investigating the case," Udupi Superintendent of Police M.B. Boralingaiah told IANS here.

"The accused (Harish) confessed to the crime Thursday and admitted that his auto was used to abduct the victim from outside her college along with two accomplices - Yogesh and Anand," Boralingaiah said.

All the three accused are auto drivers and come from nearby villages in Udup) district.

"As Yogesh (30) and Anand (28) are still in Kasturba hospital, we will produce them in the court, after they recover, for police remand to question them," the office said.

The 22-year-old victim, who hails from the neighbouring Kerala, is also in the same hospital recuperating from a leg fracture and injuries to her hands and neck.

A criminal case was registered June 21 against the three culprits under sections 366 and 376 (abduction and rape) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by the 22-year-old victim to the local police station.

The shocking incident occurred when the victim, a fourth-year student of the Kasturba Medical College, was waiting to hire an auto at the university campus gate to return to her flat from the library last Thursday at 11.30 p.m.

Police also traced the auto used in the crime and seized it.

The heinous crime, first of its kind in the education centre, sparked off protests by students of the six-decade-old, privately-run university for arrest of the culprits, stringent punishment to them and security to ensure safety of girls and women employees.

A major educational centre, Manipal is 5km from the famous Udupi temple town on the west coast of the state and about 410 km from Bangalore.